


Takes One To Catch One

by Ononymous



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23395669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: Aaron thought he didn't have to worry about it anymore. But it was back. But he wasn't gonna be frightened. Well, he was, but he wasn't gonna let anyone know he was frightened. So he gathered his friends to solve the mystery once and for all, and maybe make a new one in the process.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Takes One To Catch One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CoramDeo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoramDeo/gifts).



The shadow tumbled down the hill, reaching the very edge of the unkempt grass as it turned into smooth pavement, laying before the non-existent feet of the figure looking up at his goal. His ears flicked a little as he studied the outline of the elaborate building at the top of the hill, the sun settling behind it as the shadow continued its advance. His equine muzzle had a cocky smile that had been forced into looking unforced, and his bulging arms were crossed across his broad chest to lie to the world that he wasn't scared. And as soon as his friends turned up, it might even become true.

"Huff... huff... huff... filthy..."

"Bro!"

Aaron's smile lost some of its rigidity as he turned to the germophobic gasping. Woshua was crawling up to the path of the large house, his usual water tank missing. Instead a large orange machine was rooted in place, a rubber duck holding a grey tube aimed at any would-be attackers.

"Awesome dude, you brought it!" Aaron flexed in satisfaction. "But, uh, don't you gotta plug it in?"

"Ma... huff... Magic..." Woshua concentrated, and the sound of a vaccuum cleaner briefly roared into life. His duck squeaked in satisfaction. "This is... huff... heavy..."

"Think of the gains you'll make, Wosh. Those hindlegs are gonna be ripped when we're done here!"

"I hope so... Huff... Storing dust on my back... Huff... And sweat... Huff... Is-"

"Yeah yeah, filthy." Aaron wasn't unconcerned about his friend, he was just focused on the bigger picture. "Think about how clean you can make yourself afterwards."

Rapture stole across Woshua's face. "Okay Aaron. Let's..."

"Woah woah, dude. We're not ready yet. Did Shyren call you?"

"Hi, Aaron!"

The merhorse spun on his floating position to see another floating bundle of scales doing her best not to make eye contact. "Yo! How's Shyra doing?"

"Pretty good," said Shyren, her voice confident but her eyes evasive, "and Kap wanted me to tell you 'Dude'. Or wait, was it 'Bro'?"

"'Bro' sounds more like Bro, Bro," said Aaron. "Thanks for passing the message. Anyhow, did you bring it?"

Shyren's fin flicked out of sight for a moment, pulling out a small black device with a few buttons along one edge. She pressed one. "Anyhow, did you bring it?" it said, with Aaron's voice.

"Triumphant!" Aaron assumed a shot putt pose, despite lacking a shot to putt. "Alright dudes, you know why we're here. Let's go!"

The trio crossed the threshold and dove into shadow. Their approach was quiet, helped by the fact two of them were floating. Woshua made the lion's share of the noise with his four feet and aerobic efforts at carrying his equipment. The house loomed large now, its steep roof punctuated with octagonal towers, the wood creaking with age despite its relatively recent construction. To some, an atmospheric home was more important than chronological common sense.

"There's the door," said Aaron. "Hold onto your butts..."

Woshua had trouble trying to reach his with his quadrapedal stance, so he settled for holding his breath. Shyren covered her eyes with her finds as Aaron carefully reached out for the doorknob and turned...

Nothing happened.

"Locked," he concluded. "Didn't expect that."

"...ZZZZZ..."

"You didn't get a key?" asked Shyren.

"What, ask someone for a key to enter their property?" Aaron scratched his head. "That's kinda rude, ain't it?"

"Then how were you going to get in?"

"...ZZZZZZZ..."

Aaron's face looked like it was trying to lift a heavy emotional burden. This empathic deadlift failed.

"Great," hissed Woshua, "defeated by the very first hurdle. I got filthy for nothing!"

"Well, uh," said Shyren, "why don't you break the door down?"

"...ZZZZZZZZZZ..."

"Are you nuts?! Breaking and entering? What if Undyne catches us? I'll be pulling spears outta my-"

"ZZZZ- um, excuse me..."

The three friends looked to where the obviously fake snores had stopped. What looked like a large blanket lay on the porch near the door, but was rising off the ground, two eyes surveying the visitors.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Oh, hey there Blooky dude," flexed Aaron, "we were just trying to get inside this house and have a look around."

"Were you? Okay, one second..."

Napstablook glided through the wall. Two seconds later there was a click and the front door opened.

"Bro, that was awesome!" Aaron held his hand up for a high five that never came.

"Hey Aaron," said Shyren, "maybe he can help us search the house."

"Search the house?" Napstablook turned transparent. "Um, why do you want to-"

"Can we please get this over with?" insisted Woshua. "I need a shower already."

"Yeah, cool," said Aaron. "No time to explain Blookster, can you and Wosh check the lower level, and Shyren and I will handle the upper level!"

"But... um, okay, I guess..."

Napstablook silently followed Woshua as he scurried through the main hall and into a librarby. Rubber duck squeaked to signal his readiness, and the hose of the vaccuum was raised in case of attack.

"Um, what are you looking for? If it's okay to ask..."

"Hard to explain," said Woshua, "I'll know it when I see it. Ugh, so much dust..."

"You don't like dust...?"

Rubber Duck squeaked incredulously. "It's anathema to everything I strive towards. Worst than filthy."

"Really...?"

"Yes. It's MESSY." He shuddered. "Try not to touch it or me, I don't want to get dirtier."

"Um, I think I'm safe from it..."

"How can anyone- Wait, stop!"

Napstablook floated to a higher shelf of dusty books, then briefly slipped through them and back again before returning to Woshua. His etherial body was just as pure white as it had been before.

"Um, I don't pick up dust unless I feel like it," explained Napstablook, "so I should be okay. Um, sorry if I scared you."

There was no disdain on Woshua's sweaty face. If anything, it looked like wonder. "You mean you're... clean?"

"Corporeally, I guess. If that bothers you I can-"

"No no no, this is... good." He smiled. "Clean is good."

"Really?" Napstablook grew more opaque with confidence. "Heh heh, I'm glad you like it..."

Upstairs, Aaron and Shyren had emerged from a spotless mixing studio and was now investigating a bedroom.

"Can you lift up the end of the bed, Aaron? I'll check under it."

"On it!" With a small grunt Aaron hoisted the entire bed above his head, holding it at a slight angle. Shyren fought the urge to clutch her face with her fins, and instead held out her tape recorder beneath where the bed had been.

"...no sign," she said after a while. "Maybe Doctor Alphys can check if it somehow imprinted."

Aaron snickered through his nostrils. "Man, I thought if it was anywhere it would be under the bed!"

"Well hiding in one place can't work forever," mused Shyren. "Eventually you have to keep moving."

"Hmm, good point. Crafty... Hey, speaking of Alphys, is Kappa good to come round for his birthday next month?"

"Oh, I forgot to ask, Shyra and I were spending most of our time on the piano. I can call them later and ask, if you want."

Aaron flexed his right arm in defiance. "Nah, I know they're napping now. Gotta avoid fatigue if they're gonna start lifting."

"Oh?" Her voice had a musical tone. "I didn't know that."

"Well Kap doesn't either, it's a surprise. I got him some dumbbells!"

"Oh, that sounds... neat."

"Heck yeah! Don't tell Shyra though, I dunno if they can actually keep secrets from each other like that."

"Oh, okay. Well you don't tell Kappa that I bought Shyra some extra piano music as a surprise."

"Deal! Now can I put this bed down?"

Shyren blushed. "Oh, are you getting tired?"

"Nah, I just wanna stretch my tail. Gotta avoid cramping!"

Twenty minutes later the two of them floated down the stairs into the ornate hallway. Two mismatched suits of armour held their arms - one a halbred, the other a pitchfork - and continued their vigil by the front door.

"Wosh? Nap?"

"We're in the kitchen."

They followed the surprisingly mellow voice of Woshua. If some parts of the overly ornate house were utterly neglected, and others were meticulously clean, the kitchen was an archaic borderzone. The fridge and table looked spotless, but the antique oven had a colony of spiders. They waved at Aaron and Shyren as they entered, seeing Woshua and Napstablook around the table. Woshua's vaccuum rested by the table, guarded by the rubber duck. Woshua himself was munching on a plate of brown pellets. A translucent sickly green sandwich sat in front of Napstablook, but he was busy listening to something on headphones.

"Hey guys," said Aaron, "taking a break? Good call, I didn't think to get provisions."

"Neither did I," said Woshua, "but Blooky found this stuff. I like it!" He carefully spooned some pellets into his mouth, chewed it properly, swallowed, then struggled with a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"Cool! What is it?"

"Um..." said Napstablook, "it's called Kitty Kibble. I got it for my cousin when she comes round."

"You got it?" Shyren's whole body tilted. "Then why is it here?"

"Because... uh, this is my house..."

Aaron's ears stood to attention. "Why didn't you say anything, bro?"

He started to fade. "...you didn't ask..."

"Don't leave!" Called Shyren, looking at the floor. "We're sorry, we thought this place was abandoned. That's why we thought it was okay to look."

"..." He faded back into view. "It's okay... I liked showing someone around..."

"Solid!" said Aaron. "Well we came up blank. Any luck, Wosh?"

"Nothing but wasted sweat and the wonder of finding someone who can never be filthy," said Woshua, spooning more kibble.

"Yeah," said Napstablook, "we didn't find it. Or, um, I don't think we did."

"You don't think you did?" said Shyren.

"Well, um, I don't know what you're looking for..."

Woshua's face looked odd, frozen in mid-chew. Aaron and Shyren looked at each other.

"Well we've been mega rude!" hollered Aaron, pulling up a chair and then not using it as he positioned himself at the table. "Barging in here and eating your food and you don't even know why!"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want-"

"I do want!"

"Oh, okay..."

Shyren sat-but-actually-floated opposite Aaron, while the other two paid more attention to him.

"Okay dude, you know how back in the Underground we were trying to capture that human?"

"Oh, were you?"

"Yeah! Wosh 'n' I tussled with them a couple of times, but they kept getting away. Dang good posture when flexing, though."

"And they know how to clean up after themselves," said Woshua.

"Yeah. Well anyway we bumped into them again, near the snail farm, and..." Aaron's bravado melted away. "I still dunno how to describe it, man..."

"...what was it?"

"A dirge," said Woshua, shuddering. "A melancholic lament, singing of the moment of our falling down. It was... It was..."

"Filthy?" offered Napstablook.

"No, scary! We had no idea what it was. So we ran away. And then next time we saw the human, they started singing it, and we let them get past us!"

"Super bummed me out," said Aaron, "but then the barrier broke, and I hard far more important muscles to train than my brain muscle thinkin' about it! We all did. So we all moved up topside-"

"Well you took a lot of time to persaude me," said Woshua.

"Yeah," he grinned at his friend, "but anyway, all was cool, until two nights ago. I was comin' home from the gym after sneaking in to do some squats, and... I heard it again."

"...the durj-thing?" asked Napstablook.

Aaron snapped his fingers. "Yeah! Comin' straight from this house! Whatever that was down in the Underground has escaped, an' it's chasing us again! We have to find it!"

"...oh. I'm sorry something's chasing you."

"Don't worry about it, Blookster," said Aaron, "we're brave enough to handle it."

"I d-don't know if I am," said Shyren, "but I want to help a friend!"

"That's the spirit! We'll figure out what that noise is. An' we'll make sure you're safe too, Blooky!"

"...you will?" Napstablook's ethereal sheet twisted into a smile. "Thank you, that's really nice..."

Aaron's pecs broadened in pride. "What are friends for, bro? Hey, by the way, what you listening to?"

"Hmm...?" Napstablook's headphones levitated off his head and rested on the table. "Oh, it's my own music. I write music. Um, it's a hobby..."

"Really?" said Shyren, looking at Napstablook properly for the first time. "Can we hear it?"

Napstablook hesitated, then unplugged the headphones from his phone. "...okay..." He pressed play.

Undyne would later have a heck of a time figuring out what happened when trying to untangle the cause of a miniature riot that broke out at Napstablook's house, but suffice it to say the mystery was solved, and friendly laughs were had. After all the screaming.

**Author's Note:**

> Original suggestion: How about Aaron taking Shyren on a paranormal investigation?
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
